Google Search Console's performance report may have some sort of bug or tracking issue. When you set some filters, you may see a huge spike in impressions start to show up in the report.
This may be similar to that num 100 spike we saw last year.
Brodie Clark was the first to post about this and wrote on X - he said, "there is something bizarre going on with Google Search Console data right now." He said this happens when he filters by the merchant listing filter, "using the 'merchant listings' search appearance filter, which has historically been independent of the influence of rank trackers (because of an impression being recorded only after a grid result is selected), is now a mess," he wrote.
Here is his screenshot:
Brodie added that this is across several large-scale eCommerce sites, "CTR data is no longer accurate for desktop, with there now being many queries appearing that are clearly related to tools, with significant increases in impressions from this past week in particular."
I am not sure how widespread this is, if it is limited to just the merchant listing filter or not...
Here is his post:
Heads-up: there is something bizarre going on with Google Search Console data right now.
— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) March 30, 2026
Similar to the changes that came to light after the disabling of &num=100, impressions are again skyrocketing for specific surfaces on desktop.
For example, using the 'merchant listings'… pic.twitter.com/1uYaHiW7rh
Forum discussion at X.
